Customers of mobile communications are embracing 3G networks and video telephony services that are delivered using such networks. The current popularity of camera phones promises a bright future for video phones and video telephony in the 3G space. While 3G networks are capable of delivering video content to wireless devices, the throughput and Quality of Service (QoS) for real-time video delivery on 3G networks leave much to be desired. There is room for improvement in respect to transmission errors related to video delivery on 3G networks.
Cellular radio telephony companies and 3G operators currently use circuit-switched networks for voice and video telephony. Currently, mobile phone call set-up and call controls are performed over circuit-switched networks that include 2G, 2.5G and 3G networks. Circuit switching is a type of communication in which a dedicated channel is established between two end points in the network for the duration of a connection. Such a dedicated channel is well suited for transmitting data in real-time. However, the available bandwidth in a circuit-switched network is rather narrow. 3G circuit-switched networks transmit data at a rate of 64 kilo bits per sec (kpbs), and thus are not suitable for data intensive applications such as the transmission of video data in real-time. Further, the presence of interference in the cellular air interface to mobile terminals often cause data to be dropped before such data reaches the destination end point.
In view of the foregoing, a more efficient manner of transmitting video data in the context of 3G networks is needed.